“$36,000 fine and disqualification for word ‘moron’ it's too much” – Andrey Rublev bemoans default, penalty handed in Dubai for shouting at official

Andrey Rublev landed in trouble for shouting at a line judge during his semifinal showdown against Alexander Bublik at the Dubai Tennis Championships 2024 held a few weeks ago.

Rublev was immediately defaulted for his actions as another official claimed that he had hurled abuse at the line judge. According to the official's account, Rublev, angered by a call on the baseline on game point at 5-5 in the third set, called the line judge a 'f**king moron'.

The Russian maintained innocence claiming he didn't utter the cuss word but wasn't trusted. He, however, retained his ranking points and prize money with a deduction of $36,400.

Andrey Rublev recently claimed that the punishment handed to him was irrational.

"A $36,000 fine and disqualification for the word 'moron'… based on all my career experience, it's too much. Although, if we take my behavior, then I am wrong and, of course, it is impermissible," he told Sports Express. (translated)

He entered the tournament as the World No. 5 and remained in the same position when the rankings were updated after the Dubai tournament concluded.

The Russian further advocated for his viewpoint claiming he had been involved in uglier exchanges with the officials but wasn't penalized to the same degree.

"If we analyze the situation as a whole, I think that this is too much. Because I've had much worse situations, and the punishments for them are much milder, warnings with a minimal fine," he said.

Rublev's semifinal opponent Alexander Bublik couldn't win the tournament, ending up as the second-best to France's Ugo Humbert.

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Andrey Rublev: "There was video evidence on which it is clear that I did not say the things that were attributed to me"

Andrey Rublev

In the same conversation with Sports Express, Andrey Rublev revealed that his confrontation with the line official was captured by the cameras which helped his case at the Dubai Tennis Championships 2024.

"I didn't say half of the things that were written in the report. I was able to refute this because there was video evidence on which it is clear that I did not say the things that were attributed to me. Thanks to this, I got my rating points back," the 26-year-old said.

Andrey Rublev fell one step short of matching his previous year's performance at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Centre. He had finished the 2023 tournament as a runner-up after losing to fellow Russian Daniil Medvedev in the final.

He defeated the likes of Filip Krajinovic, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Botic van de Zandschulp, and Alexander Zverev in Dubai last year.